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The submission deadlines for LIFE Calls for proposals is getting closer! The LIFE 2017 Info Day and Networking event, a side session of EU Green Jobs Summit within the EU Green Week, took place between May 29th and June 2nd. Several other partner events, such as the ‘Green is the new smart. Green jobs boosting regional economy’ (organised by the Pomorskie Regional EU Office), were also held during the EU Green Week.

AER is pleased to share some useful information and tips with you to succeed in the application process.

Why important?

Since circular economy and green jobs are a core topic of these events, AER got deeper insight on May 31^st and June 1^st. Both events referred to the opportunity for Europe having a leading role in paving the way for a transition to circular economy as well as pushing for more ambitious standards. For instance, Montpellier’s Master Degree Programme in Water Sciences contributes effectively to a more environmental friendly society by raising awareness about the challenges and opportunities that this green transition can bring.

3 projects as good examples were introduced during the event:

Life ‘Steppe Farming’ for sustainable farming to halt to decline steppe birds which was the Best of the Best in 2014.
A Close-to-market project ‘A local biodiesel for your public transports!’ By re-localisation of cooking oil and its transformation into biofuel which was re-submitted in 2015 after a trial in 2014.
Life for Danube Sturgeons by fighting against illegal fishing.

The Life 2017 Info Day and Networking Event, organised by the European Commission, was aimed at providing both information and the opportunity of networking for your project. On the other hand, the event of Pomorskie Regional EU Office took place to highlight the importance of green jobs in boosting regional economy, presenting business opportunities for local and regional economies and creating cleantech jobs.

How to get involved?

Firstly, you can apply for several calls for proposals which are already open as well as other funding opportunities such as Horizon 2020, COSME, InnovFin and EFSI. Secondly, AER has already published a partner search of E-Vai project which will be submitted for one of the LIFE Calls. If you are interested in this project, please contact the AER Secretariat for more information. Thirdly, two competitions were promoted during the EU Green Week: the 2020 European Green Capital and 2019 European Green Leaf Awards (the application is still open for both of them).

To get inspiration for designing a LIFE project, please check out the LIFE Project database. Or you can also contact the AER Secretariat and our partner network, ACR+, working on linking local and regional stakeholders in the field of circular economy. You can check out also the Circular economy industry platform launched by Business Europe for innovative solutions contributing to circular economy in Europe.

The Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform will have a coordination group in order to provide guidance, reinforce interaction between stakeholders on exchanges of good practices regarding the transition to circular economy. A call for expressions of interest to become a member of of this coordination group is open until August 31st. In addition to this, you can also share your best practices and/or learn more about smart specialisation boosting interregional collaboration. Therefore, please do not hesitate to register for the 2nd edition of the ‘Grow your region’ conference which will take place in Valencia (Spain) on November 8th and 9th.

The next EU Green Week Conference on ‘Green Cities for a Greener Future’ will be held in Brussels between May 22nd and May 24th 2018. More details on the programme will be announced soon.

What is new in LIFE Calls 2017?

After the introduction of the Climate Action Policy Priorities and the responsibilities of EASME, funding opportunities for traditional projects were explained.

Encouraging the delivery of results from research projects such as Horizon2020 is an additional point to get more scores. In this sense, some new elements were introduced to these new LIFE Calls, such as:

Defining and welcoming ‘close-to-market’ projects
More specifications regarding quantifiable impacts/benefits
Transferability and Replication Plan is mandatory deliverable for certain Calls
Sustainability: Exploitation Plan as part of the After-Life Plan as well as Business Plan for ‘close-to-market’ projects are mandatory deliverables for certain Calls
Focus on more concrete activities developing new tools to put into practice
Control on double-funding and value-added vs previously funded programs.

Within the framework of the LIFE Programme, the European Commission launched the 2^nd Call for preparatory project proposals to support the European Solidarity Corps.